Rolung-msll



3 Sheets-Sheet l.

I '(No Model.)

ILA. CARTER.

ROLLING MILL.

110.390.3 13. Patented Oct 2, 1888.

rllllllllll llIl-Illlllllilll (No Model.) Sheets-Sheet 2.

R. A. CARTER.

ROLLING MILL.

N0. 390,343. Patented 0013.2, 1888.

N. PETERS. Pnam-Linw n hcr. Washingtun, n. c.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

R. A. GARTER.

ROLLING MILL.

No. 390,343. Patenfsed Oct. 2, 1888.

UNITED STATES PATENT EETEE.

ROBERT A. CARTER, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

ROLLING-JVHLL,

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 390,343, dated October2, 11888.

Application filed February 23, 1858. Serial No. 264,997.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT A. CARTER, a resident of Pittsburg, in thecounty of Allegheny and State ofPennsylvania,haveinvented a new anduseful Improvement in Rolling Mills; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to rolling-mills, and more especially to thoseemployed in rolling plate and blooming metals.

At the present time there are three different types of rolling-millsemployed for these purposes, one consisting of a two-high set of rolls,with a fixed table on one side and a lift jug-table on the other, whichreceives the metal as it comes from the rolls and lifts it up above theupper surface of top roll and dumps it back on the fixed table to beagain fed forward to the rolls. Another consists of a threehigh set ofrolls, with lifting-tables on each side, so that the metal may be passedin one direction through the bottom and middle roll, then raised by thetable and passed back between the top and middle roll, where it isreceived by the table on that side and lowered, so as to be again passedthrough the lower pass, as before. The third appliance consists of atwo-high train coupled to a reversing-engine, so that when the metal hasbeen rolled in one direction the direction of rotation of the rolls canbe reversed and the metal again rolled in the opposite direction. Theobjection to the first of these mills or appliances is that it requiresa large number of men to manipulate the metal, and it is almostimpossible to handle large sizes of plate-such as armor-platewith it.The three-high set of rolls with lifting-tables does its work verysatisfactorily; but the mill is very costly to build and requires alarge amount of power for its operation. With the reversing'millthelieavy expense of its construction, in consequence of the large powerof the engines and boilers required, and the excessive wear on theengines and mill are the main objections to its use.

The object of my invention is to provide a mill in which the necessityof lifting the metal is avoided and a two-high set of rolls madeavailable without the reversing of the rolls.

To these ends my invention consists, generally stated, in providingmeans for separating the rolls after each rolling operation, in addi-(No model.)

tion to the adjusting devices for varying the relative position of therolls, so that the metal may be pushed back between the rolls after eachrolling operation, to be again acted upon when the rolls are broughttogether; and the invention also consists in a particular form offeed-table for the rolls, as well as certain other improvements, all ofwhich will be more fully hereinafter set forth.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willdescribe the same more fully, referring to the accompanying drawings, inwhich- Figure 1 is a central longitudinal section of myimprovedrolling-mill. Fig. 2 is a front view, partly in section, of the same;and Fig. 3 is a plan view,with the tops of the housings removed.

Like letters refer to like parts in each of the figures of the drawings.

The housings a a are of the usual or any suitable construction, and theyhave mounted in fixed bearings therein the lower roll,b, and in thesliding bearings c the up per roll, d, the bearings of the latter alsocarrying at its back and in frictional contabt therewith a small roll,(1, whose under surface is nearly in aline with that of the roll d. Thisupper roll, (1, is balanced,so that its constant tendency is to keep,while unobstructed, in a raised position. To effect this balancingseveral well-known methods may be employed, one of which is shown in thedrawings, and consists in attaching to each bearing a of the roll (1 twovertical rods, 0 e, which extend down through passages in the bearingsof the lower roll,b, and in the lower part of the housings a, and arejoined in the pit below the rolls by yokesf, which yokes are connectedtogether by a rod, f, that has secured thereto one end of a lever orlevers, f", fulcrumed atf in the pit below the rolls, and carrying aweight or poise f on its outer end. This weight or poise f issufficiently heavy with its lever-arm to more than counterbalance theroll (I, and thus keep the latter constantly pressing upward. On the topof each rider cof the upper part of the bearing 0 of the roll (I is abearing-block, g, having a seat, 9, therein, in which bears the end ofthe adjustingscrew h, which serves to vary the dist-ance of the rollsapart to effect the desired reduction in the metal. Theseadjustingscrews may be operated by any of the wellknown means, the mostcommon of which consists of a shaft, it, having a hand-wheel, h", on itsouter end, and bevel-pinions h, which mesh with bevel-pinions h" on theupper ends of the adjusting-screws, so that by turning the hand-wheelany amount of adjustment of the top roll up or down may be effected, asthe screws act in opposition to the weight f". To effect the quickseparation of the rolls at any time without affecting the adjustment ofthe screws h, orothcr means employed for this purpose, a tapering wedgeor filling-piece, t, is interposed between each bearing-block g and therider 0, so that by forcing said wedge into its maximum width the rollsare held together-that is, so as to form a reducing pass--but by withdiawing said wedge then the roll d will be raised by the balancef" and agreater distance between the rolls obtained than the thickness of themetal. I have shown in the drawings a form of wedge or filling-piecewhich is well-adapted for this purpose. This has a thin parallel sideportion, 2", and a thicker parallel side portion, '6 connected to theportion t" by tapering faces 13, to facilitate the entry of the thickerportion between the block and the rider, the difference between thisthicker portion and the thin portion being equal to the amount ofseparation of the rolls. These Wedges, to secure a uniform movement ateach end of the roll, are connected together, and they may be operatedby any system of hand-levers, if desired. I prefer, however, to operatethem by steam or bydraulic pressure, for which purpose there are securedto the top of each rider 0 of the roll d the ends oftwo bars, 7'7",which support over the middle of the rolls a cylinder, is, which hastherein a piston, extending through stuffing-boxes in each cylinder-headand being attached at its outer ends to the wedges i.

The cylinder is is provided with a suitable valve-chest, 7c", having anoperating-valve, k therein, and with pressure-supply and exhaust pipes,k which are preferably provided with a telescope -joint to provide forthe movement of the cylinder with the top of the roll (1. To afford aconvenient means of operating the valve W from the side of the housings,a rod, Z, is attached to said valve at one end, and embraces by a loop,Z, the adj ustingscrew h, so that it extends out beyond the housings aatits other end, to which is attached by a suitable connection anoperating-lever, Z pivoted to some suitable support on the side of thehousing. The operator can then, by shifting this lever 1 force thewedges out or in, and thus separate the rolls or bring them to theirnormal position,

To feed the billet, slab, or plate to and fro during the rollingoperation, each side of the rolls is provided with a non-lifting table.011 one side of the rolls the table at consists of a series of drivenfrietionrollcrs, m, which are geared together and to some moving power,as hereinafter explained. The table on the other side of the rollsconsists of a seriesof bars or rails, 12, which extend at right anglesto the axis of the rolls and at a suitable distance apart, and betweenthese bars at their inner ends are a series of guides, n, which extendover the rolls 1) and receive the metal as it comes from the latter,preventing the metal from attempting to follow the roll and falling intothe pit below. Back of these guides, and mounted beneath the bars n, area series of parallel cross shafts, 0, which carry Vshaped groovedfriction-rollers 0, which extend up between the bars a and projectslightly above the surface of the latter. The firsttwo or three or moreof these cross-shafts are geared together, so that they can be compelledto rotate in whatever direction desired. To effect this, each crossshaftto be rotated has on its outer end a bevel-pinion, 0, which meshes witha bevelpinion, 0", on the longitudinal shaft 0 the first of thecross-shafts, or any other suitable one, being connected by a belt, p,to a countershaft, 10', which has thereon two loose pulleys, p" andp,that are driven in opposite directions, and a sliding hub-clutch, p,which can be thrown into engagement with either of said pulleys, so thatthe shaft 19 and its connections may be driven in opposite directions.The countershaftp is also coupled to one of the shafts of thefriction-rollers m of the table m, so that these rollers may also bedriven in either direction and correspondingly to the rollers 0. Restingon the rollers 0 is a ram or block, g, which has a series of V-shapedribs, g, on its under side,that fit in the grooves of the rollers o andserve to give a greater exposure of frictional surface to said rollersto facilitate the movement of the ram or block by the rollers. The ribsq of this ram do not extend the entire length of the ram, but are cutoff near the front of the latter, so as to serve as a stop for the ramby striking against the guides a, and prevent the ram from going too farbetween the rollsthat is, from going across the line of contact of therolls.

The manner of operating my improved rolling-mill is as follows: Thewedge or fillingpieces i are forced inward, so that their thickest orparallel part is interposed between the blocks and the riders c, andthen the adjusting-screw h turned to bring the rolls the right distanceapart to secure the desired reduction in the metal. The ram 1 is alsorun back to the outer end of the table to give an unobstructed platformin front of it for the receipt of the metal as it comes from the rolls.The slab, bloom, plate, or pile is now laid on the rollers m of thetable at and these rollers started in rotation toward the rolls, whichcauses the metal to be carried to the pass of the rolls, and to be drawnthrough the latter by the draft of the rolls, coming out on the otherside onto the surface of the bars 12 and the rollers 0. WVhile the metalis passing from the rolls the smaller roller, d, being driven by itsfrictional contact with the roll d in the reverse direction from that inwhich the ICO metal is moving, it serves to scrape the scale from theupper surface of the metal as it passes onto the bars 12. hen the metalhas finally cleared the rolls, the wedge i is withdrawn from its scatover the hearings, or until the thin part is in position, which causesthe up per roll, (I, to immediately rise, the amount of the wedge, asheretofore explained, leaving a clear space between the rolls for thefree passage of the-metal backward thercthrough. The ram 1 is nowbrought forward by throwing the clutch so that the rollers 0 will bedriven toward the rolls, causing the ram to shove before it the metalbetween the rolls and over the surface of the bottom roll onto the tableat, where it is carried back by the rollers m. The effect of pushing themetal back over the lower roll, Z)-that is, moving in opposite directionto that of the IIIBliLl lS to scrape from the under side of the metalmore or less scale formed during rolling. \iVhen the metal has beenshoved back to the table at, the ram (1 is drawn back out of the way andthe wedgei forced in to bring the rolls 1) (I back to their originalposition. If the operator desires a further re duction of the metal onthis pass, he turns the adj ustingscrews h,as usual. The rolls are nowin condition for the next rolling operation. As the wedge i alwayseffects a uniform dis placement of the upper roll, and the latter alwaysis returned to the same position that it occupied before saiddisplacement, no disturbance of the relative position of the rolls inthe successive rollings is effected.

My improved rolling-mill requires but comparatively few men to operateit and no in-- crease in the weight of the appliance or in the power tooperate it. At the same time it can be readily applied to many of theexisting two and three high mills.

I do not claim in this application the method of rolling the metal,heretofore described, as that forms thesubjeetmatter of a separateapplication filed'by me on even date herewith.

Having now described my invention, what I claim is 1. In a rolling-mill,the combination, with mechanism for adjusting the rolls to and from eachother, of independent means for effecting a separation of the rolls inaddition to that caused by the adjusting mechanism, substantially as andfor the purpose set forth.

2. In a rolling-mill, the combination, with means for adjusting theupper roll to and from the lower roll, of a movable fillingdeviceinterposed between the top of the upper roll and the adjustingmechanism, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a rolling-mill, the combination of a balanced upper roll and meansfor adjusting the same toward the lower roll, with a m ovable wedge orfilling piece interposed between said adjusting mechanism and the upperroll, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. In a rolling-mill, the combination of the balanced upper roll and thescrews for adj usting the same to and from the lower roll, with amovable wedge interposed between each adjusting-screw and the top of theroll, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

5. In a rolling-mill, the combination of the balanced upper roll, (I,the adjustingscrews 7L, block 9, against which the screws bear, and awedge, '73, interposed between each block 1 and the top of the bearingsof the roll cl, sub- 7 stantially as and for the purpose set forth.

6. In a two-high rollingmill, the combina tion, with the upper roll, ofasmaller roll carried by said upper roller back of the same and infrictional contact therewith, substantially as and for the purpose setforth.

7. In a rollingmill, a feed-table composed of fixed bars, and drivenfeed rollers interposed between said bars, substantially as and for thepurpose set forth.

8. In a rolling-mill, a feed-table composed ofbars, and drivenfeed-rollers interposed between said bars, and a ram or block resting onsaid rollers and driven by the same, substantially as and for thepurpose set forth. 3

9. In a rolling-mill, the combination, with. the rolls, of areeeivingtable, and a ram or pusher for pushing the metal over saidtable, substantially asand for the purpose set forth.

10. In a rolling-mill, a feed-table composed 5 of the bars a, groovedfriction-rollers 0 between said bars, means for driving said rollers,and the block or ram q, resting on said rollers and moved to and fro bythe same, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

11. In a rolling-mill, the combination of the rolls,and means forseparating the same,with a pusher or ram for shoving the metal betweenthe rolls while they are separated, substantially as and for the purposeset forth.

12. In a rolling-mill, the combination, with means for adjusting theupper roll to and from the lower roll, of a movable filling deviceinterposed between the top of the upper roll and the adjustingmechanism, and a pressure-cyl- 1 1o inder for moving said fillingdevice, said cylinder being carried with the upper roll, substantiallyas and for the purpose set forth.

13. In a rolling-mill, the combination of a balanced upper roll, andmeans for adjusting 11 the same to and from the upper roll, with amovable wedge interposed between each adjusting-screw and the top of theroll, and a pressure-cylinder carried by the bearings of said upper rolland movable therewith, the piston of said cylinder being connected tosaid wedge, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof I, the said ROBERT A. CARTER, have hereunto set myhand.

ROBERT A CA RTER.

Witnesses:

N. S. S'rocKwnLL, J. N. COOKE.

